Roll-up thermal barrier

ABSTRACT

A thermal barrier configured to be rolled and unrolled while providing a thermal value of greater than about R=3. The thermal barrier comprises multiple layers including a first layer comprising a fiber mesh core and material selected from the group comprising: polyurethane, rubber, and polyvinylchloride, a second layer bonded to the first layer, the second layer comprising material selected from the group comprising: polyolefin foam, polyurethane foam and rubber based foam, and a third layer bonded to the second layer, the third layer comprising a thin film or fabric material selected from the group comprising: polyester, polyolefin, polyurethane and nylon, wherein the first layer has a greater length along the linear dimension than the second layer and the third layer.

This application is a continuation of U.S. Pat. Application Serial No.14/134,698 filed Dec. 19, 2013, which claims the benefit of and priorityto U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/740,877, filed Dec. 21, 2012 -the disclosure of both of which is incorporated by reference herein intheir entirety.

BACKGROUND 1.0 Field of the Invention

The present disclosure relates to a composite material and, moreparticularly, a composite material capable of rolling and unrolling fromspiral to flat shape while providing substantial insulating value, amongother benefits.

2.0 Related Art

Various materials are available that may be used for thermal barrierssuch as used in buildings, roll-up doors, doors, freezer doors, andsimilar applications. For applications such as configured as roll-uptype doors, many of these thermal barrier products suffer fromdeficiencies that include cracking of the surfaces, limited insulatingproperties, need for replacement of the door panels on a regular basis.Moreover, these roll-up type doors often do not perform well in verycold weather, resisting unrolling and/or rolling.

Many thermal barriers are made as a symmetric type construction, wherethe layers are symmetrically layered in relation to a central layer. Forexample, a central core layer of strong material may be layeredsystematically on either side with insulating material such as foaminsulation. However, these types of arrangements tend to fail ratherquickly when placed into service.

A new composite material that overcomes these deficiencies would havesubstantial contribution to the thermal barrier industry.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art by providinga composition of material suitable for thermal barriers that isconfigured to be rolled up into a coil and unrolled many times whilemaintaining structural integrity. The composition of material may besuitable for many applications such as for use in buildings, roll-updoors, doors, freezer doors, and similar applications.

In one aspect, a thermal barrier configured to be rolled and unrolledwhile providing a thermal value of greater than about R=3 is provided.The thermal barrier comprises multiple layers including a first layercomprising a fiber mesh core and material selected from the groupcomprising: polyurethane, rubber, and polyvinylchloride, a second layerbonded to the first layer, the second layer comprising at least one of:polyolefin foam, polyurethane foam and rubber based foam, and a thirdlayer bonded to the second layer, the third layer comprising a thin filmor fabric material selected from the group comprising: polyester,polyolefin, polyurethane and nylon, wherein the composite materialmaintains a consistent linear dimension within about 1% of total lengthin a coiled configuration compared with a linear configuration. Thefirst layer may be bonded to the second layer by acrylic based adhesive,heated fusion, or both. The second layer may be bonded to the thirdlayer by acrylic based adhesive, heated fusion, or both. The first layermay have a thickness of greater than about 0.03”and less than about0.25”. The third layer may have a thickness less than about 25 mil andgreater than about 2 mil. The composite material may be resistant tobeing rolled into a spiral configuration and unrolled from a spiralconfiguration in a first direction, while being substantiallynon-resistant to being rolled and unrolled in a second direction. Thecomposite material may have no seams in the first direction. Thecomposite material may be seamless and continuous.

In one aspect, a method of forming a thermal barrier may include thesteps of providing a first layer comprising a fiber mesh core andmaterial comprising at least one of: polyurethane, rubber, andpolyvinylchloride, bonding a second layer to the first layer, the secondlayer comprising at least one of: polyolefin foam, polyurethane foam andrubber based foam, and bonding a third layer to the second layer, thethird layer comprising a thin film or fabric material selected from thegroup comprising: polyester, polyolefin, polyurethane and nylon, whereinthe composite material maintains a consistent linear dimension withinabout 1% of total length in a coiled configuration compared with alinear configuration.

In one aspect, a method of forming a thermal barrier may include thesteps of bonding a first layer with a second layer, the second layercomprising at least one of: polyolefin foam, polyurethane foam andrubber based foam, the first layer comprising a fiber mesh core andmaterial comprising at least one of: polyurethane, rubber,polyvinylchloride and polyurethane, producing a composite materialhaving a length and a width wherein the composite material maintains aconsistent linear dimension within about 1% of a total length in acoiled configuration compared with a linear configuration, the compositematerial resistant to rolling in the direction of the width.

Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the invention may beset forth or apparent from consideration of the detailed description anddrawings. Moreover, it is to be understood that the foregoing summary ofthe invention and the following detailed description and drawings areexemplary and intended to provide further explanation without limitingthe scope of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure, are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the disclosureand, together with the detailed description, serve to explain theprinciples of the disclosure. No attempt is made to show structuraldetails of the disclosure in more detail than may be necessary for afundamental understanding of the disclosure and the various ways inwhich it may be practiced. In the drawings:

FIG. 1A is a front view of an illustration of a composite material,according to principles of the disclosure;

FIG. 1B is an exploded cross-sectional view of the composite material ofFIG. 1A taken along the line 1B-1B;

FIG. 1C is an exploded view of a section of FIG. 1D;

FIG. 1D is a side view of FIG. 1A; and

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing an example of a process for forming athermal barrier, the steps of the process performed according toprinciples of the disclosure.

The present disclosure is further described in the detailed descriptionthat follows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure and the various features and advantageous details thereofare explained more fully with reference to the non-limiting examplesthat are described and/or illustrated in the accompanying drawings anddetailed in the following description and attachment. The attachmenthereto is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as part ofthis disclosure. It should be noted that the features illustrated in thedrawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and features of one examplemay be employed with other examples as the skilled artisan wouldrecognize, even if not explicitly stated herein. Descriptions ofwell-known components and processing techniques may be omitted so as tonot unnecessarily obscure the examples of the disclosure. The examplesused herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of waysin which the invention may be practiced and to further enable those ofskill in the art to practice the examples of the disclosure.Accordingly, the examples herein should not be construed as limiting thescope of the invention.

The terms “including”, “comprising”, and variations thereof, as used inthis disclosure, mean “including, but not limited to”, unless expresslyspecified otherwise.

The terms “a”, “an”, and “the”, as used in this disclosure, means “oneor more”, unless expressly specified otherwise.

Devices that are in communication with each other need not be incontinuous communication with each other, unless expressly specifiedotherwise. In addition, devices that are in communication with eachother may communicate directly or indirectly through one or moreintermediaries.

Although process steps, method steps, algorithms, or the like, may bedescribed in a sequential order, such processes, methods and algorithmsmay be configured to work in alternate orders. In other words, anysequence or order of steps that may be described does not necessarilyindicate a requirement that the steps be performed in that order. Thesteps of the processes, methods or algorithms described herein may beperformed in any order practical. Further, some steps may be performedsimultaneously.

When a single device or article is described herein, it will be readilyapparent that more than one device or article may be used in place of asingle device or article. Similarly, where more than one device orarticle is described herein, it will be readily apparent that a singledevice or article may be used in place of the more than one device orarticle. The functionality or the features of a device may bealternatively embodied by one or more other devices which are notexplicitly described as having such functionality or features.

FIG. 1A is a front view of an illustration of a composite material 100suitably configured to be rolled and unrolled many times from a flatshape to a spiral or rolled-up shape. The composite material 100 may beconfigured and sized as needed for use in applications such as roll-uptype doors, panel doors, structural walls or dividers, thermal barriersand the like. FIG. 1D is a side view of FIG. 1A. FIG. 1C is an explodedview of a section of FIG. 1D.

The composite material 100 may be configured in nearly any flat shape.However, in the example as shown in FIG. 1 , the composite material 100may have a first length 115. A second length 120 may include thecomposite material height 120 plus an additional length 145 thatcomprises an extension only of the belting material 125 (FIG. 1B),described in more detail below. The composite material 100 may have awidth 110. The composite material 100 may have a characteristic of beingrollable (i.e., being rolled into a spiral) in a first direction 122,while being resistant to being rollable in a second direction, such asdirection 105 as illustrated. The composite material 100 may beconfigured to generally resistant to rolling in the width 110 direction,while having a characteristic of being rollable in the direction of thelength 115, denoted by arrow 122.

FIG. 1B is an exploded cross-sectional view of the composite material100 of FIG. 1A taken along the line 1B-1B. The composite material 100may comprise at least three layers. A first layer 125 (or first outerlayer) may comprise a structural layer or belting material layer whichis of a highly durable and strong material while being sufficientlyflexible to permit rolling of the material into a spiral (or coiled)configuration. The belting material may be analogous to material used ina tread mill exercise machine, for example. The first layer 125 mayrange in thickness 130 of not less than about 0.03” and not greater thanabout 0.25”. A preferred range may range from about 0.03” to about0.09”. The first layer 125 may comprise a material comprising at leastone of: polyurethane, rubber, and polyvinylchloride. The first layer 125may also include a fiber mesh core 126. The first layer 125 materialcomposition is configured to resist stretching significantly, resistcompressing a significant amount, while maintaining a liner dimensionwithin about 1% of the total length when alternating from the spiral toflat position.

The first layer 125 may be generally referred to as the cold-sided layerand typically rolls to the outside and comprises a generallynon-compressible, non-elastic durable material. This first layer 125ensures that when a panel of composite material 100 rolls (from a flatorientation to a rolled or coiled configuration), the closed cell foammaterial (i.e., the second layer 135), which is on the inside of theroll, only needs to compress in-place. With this configuration, thesecond layer 135 does not have to stretch horizontally, which is anadvantage as most foam does not stretch very well, and will eventuallytear or break down if forced to stretch.

The second layer 135 which may be an inner layer or center materiallayer may comprise a substantial insulating composition such aspolyolefin, polyurethane or rubber, based foam. In the example of FIG.1B, the second layer 135 is shown as, but not limited to, 2 lb. densityclosed cell polyethylene copolymer cross-linked foam.

The third layer 140 may comprise a thin film or fabric. The thickness ofthis layer may be less than about 25 mil and greater than about 2 mil.The material of the third layer 140 may comprise polyester, polyether,polyolefin, polyurethane, nylon, or the like. Moreover, it may be anycombination of these materials.

The first layer 125, second layer 135, and third layer 140 may be bondedto respective adjacent layers to form the permanently bonded singlecomposite material 100. The technique of bonding of the respectiveadjacent layers may include a bonding layer therebetween. This mayinclude an acrylic based adhesive, heat fusion, or both an acrylic basedadhesive and heat fusion. There may be no horizontally running seams orchannels (such as in the direction 105) on a panel of composite material100. All layers 125, 135 and 140 are continuous in the direction ofrolling 122.

The composite material 100 may be configured to provide a thermalinsulating rating of greater than R=3 (K < 0.333). The compositematerial 100 may be constructed in an asymmetric configuration as shownin FIG. 1B with a structural thickness.

The composite material 100 may be cut to specific sizes depending onapplications, to form specific shaped and sized panels or forms. Asshown in FIG. 1B, the width 142 of the composite material 100 may beabout 1 inch, but other widths may be achieved.

As shown in FIG. 1C, the first layer 125 may include a segment 145 thatextends beyond the second 135 and third layer 140. The segment 145 ofthe first layer 125 may be any practical length, such as theillustrative 12″ shown in FIG. 1C. The segment 145 may be used to securea panel of composite material when installed. For example, the segment145 may be attached to a rolling drum located atop a doorway orpassageway. The drum may be operated to cause coiling/rolling/unrollingof the panel when closing or opening a doorway passageway.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing an example of a process for forming athermal barrier, the steps of the process performed according toprinciples of the disclosure. The process of FIG. 2 may form the thermalbarrier composite material of FIGS. 1A-1D.

At step 200, a first layer, e.g. first layer 125 may be provided thatmay comprise a generally non-compressible, non-elastic durable material.The first layer may be configured to resist stretching significantly,resist compressing a significant amount, while maintaining a linerdimension within about 1% of the total length when alternating from thespiral to flat position. The first layer may be configured to be longerthan the second layer and third layer for assisting in installation. Asecond layer, e.g. second layer 135, may be provided and may be an innerlayer or center material layer that may comprise a substantialinsulating composition such as polyolefin, polyurethane or rubber, basedfoam. In some applications, the second layer may comprise about a 2-lb.density closed cell polyethylene copolymer cross-linked foam. A thirdlayer may be provided. The third layer, e.g., layer 140, may comprise athin film or fabric. The thickness of this third layer may be less thanabout 25 mil and greater than about 2 mil.

At step 205, the first layer, e.g., layer 125 may be bonded to thesecond layer, e.g., layer 135, to form a two-layer composite material,for creating a thermal barrier. At step 210, the third layer, e.g.,layer 140, may be bonded to the second layer, forming a three-layercomposite material for forming a thermal barrier.

The technique of bonding of the respective adjacent layers may include abonding layer therebetween. This may include an acrylic based adhesive,heat fusion, or both an acrylic based adhesive and heat fusion.

In one aspect, there may be no horizontally running seams or channels(such as in the direction 105) on a panel of produced compositematerial. All layers, e.g., layers 125, 135 and 140 are continuous inthe direction of rolling.

At step 215, the composite material may be attached to a structure(e.g., attached to a rolling drum located above a doorway or passageway)for creating a vertical thermal barrier (or possibly, to create ahorizontal barrier in certain applications). The composite material maybe shaped to a size suitable for a particular installation, such as aparticular size of a wall opening. At step 220 the composite materialwhen installed may be rolled-up or unrolled as required for a particularapplication.

While the invention has been described in terms of examples, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practicedwith modifications in the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Theseexamples are merely illustrative and are not meant to be an exhaustivelist of all possible designs, embodiments, applications or modificationsof the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A composite material comprising: a first layercomprising a fiber mesh core and material comprising at least one of:polyurethane, rubber, and polyvinylchloride; a second layer bonded tothe first layer, the second layer comprising at least one of: polyolefinfoam, polyurethane foam and rubber based foam; and a third layer bondedto the second layer, the third layer comprising a thin film or fabricmaterial comprising at least one of: polyester, polyolefin and nylon,wherein the first layer has a greater length along the linear dimensionthan the second layer and the third layer.
 2. The composite material ofclaim 1, wherein the composite material provides an insulating value ofgreater than R =
 3. 3. The composite material of claim 1, wherein thefirst layer is bonded to the second layer by acrylic based adhesive,heated fusion, or both.
 4. The composite material of claim 1, whereinthe second layer is bonded to the third layer by acrylic based adhesive,heated fusion, or both.
 5. The composite material of claim 1, whereinthe first layer has a thickness of greater than about 0.03” and lessthan about 0.25”.
 6. The composite material of claim 1, wherein thethird layer has a thickness less than about 25 mil and greater thanabout 2 mil.
 7. The composite material of claim 1, wherein the compositematerial has no seams in the first direction.
 8. The composite materialof claim 7, wherein the first direction is horizontal when installed. 9.The composite material of claim 1, wherein the composite material has noridges or valleys in the surface that run in the first direction. 10.The composite material of claim 1, wherein the composite material isseamless and continuous.
 11. The composite material of claim 1, whereinthe first layer comprises 2-ply blue rilon.
 12. The composite materialof claim 1, wherein the first layer has a length greater than both alength of the second layer and a length of the third layer.
 13. A methodof forming a thermal barrier, the method comprising the steps of:providing a first layer comprising a fiber mesh core and materialcomprising at least one of: polyurethane, rubber, polyvinylchloride andpolyurethane; bonding a second layer to the first layer, the secondlayer comprising material comprising at least one of: polyolefin foam,polyurethane foam and rubber based foam; and bonding a third layer tothe second layer producing a composite material, the third layercomprising a thin film or fabric material comprising at least one of:polyester, polyolefin and nylon, wherein the first layer has a greaterlength along the linear dimension than the second layer and the thirdlayer.
 14. The method of claim 14, further comprising attaching thecomposite material to a structure to form a thermal barrier.
 15. Themethod of claim 15, further comprising rolling up the compositematerial.